Eriocoma hymenoides

Eriocoma hymenoides is a cool-season, perennial bunchgrass. It is native to western North America.

Description

In the wild, Eriocoma hymenoides typically grows tall and wide. It has narrow, rolled leaf blades.

Distribution and habitat

Eriocoma hymenoides is native to western North America east of the Cascades from British Columbia and Alberta south to southern California, northeastern Mexico, and Texas.
It grows in a variety of habitats from desert scrub to ponderosa pine forests. It can live in sandy to clayey textured soils. It can stabilize shifting sand.

Cultivation

Indian ricegrass is an important food for wild grazers such as bison, bighorn sheep, elk, mule deer, pronghorns, and jackrabbits. For some of these species, it is especially vital in late winter, as it produces green shoots earlier than other grasses. The seeds are heavily consumed by many rodents and birds. Seed caching rodents may enhance seedling survival and long-term survival of the plant.
Indian ricegrass is preferentially consumed by cattle and is an early casualty of overgrazing.

Uses

In the past, the grass was a staple food of Native Americans, especially when the maize crop failed, and for non-agricultural tribes. Seed of the ricegrass was gathered and ground into meal or flour and made into bread. Since 2000, the ricegrass has been cultivated in Montana and marketed under the trade name Montina as a gluten-free grain. The Zuni people used the ground seeds as a staple before the availability of corn.

In culture

It was officially recognized as the Nevada state grass in 1977, and as the Utah state grass in 1990.